The conduct of modern military operations has necessitated the use of small mobile, combat units equipped for speed and agility. The need for mobility dictates the type of ground-based military equipment for such units. Weapons, which can easily be deployed, fired, retrieved and transported for redeployment to another location in the field, are particularly well suited for the needs of mobile military units.
Lightweight gun systems form an important part of the modern mobile arsenal. Mortars, such as the 120 mm mortar, are one example of a lightweight gun system that finds widespread use in a variety of military situations due to their lethality and range. Traditionally, the mortar assembly is disassembled into its constituent components for transport and then it is reassembled for use. Typically, the mortar has a base-plate that is relatively massive in comparison to the other components of the mortar. The mortar base plate is sometimes further equipped with orthogonal plates capable of digging into the soil to anchor the base-plate against movement due to recoil forces generated when the mortar is fired. While this arrangement ensures the mortar remains aimed to shoot at a desired trajectory, the arrangement is heavy thus precluding easy relocation. Furthermore, the base-plate can be hard to dislodge from its anchored position in the ground once firing has ceased and the gun needs retrieving for transport to another location.
Due to its weight and shape, the mortar is preferrably hauled on a vehicle for rapidly transporting the gun to desired locations on the battlefield. The transport vehicle may be a variety of wheeled or tracked vehicles and is selected based upon airlift capabilities, and the distances and terrain over which mortar will be moved. For example, the transport vehicle may be a conventional pick-up truck, an all-terrain vehicle, or a trailer with the ability to carry the mortar assembled or unassembled and a plurality of the rounds that are used with the mortar.
One common way for transporting a mortar is by disassembling it and fastening it to harnesses on the vehicle, such as an armored vehicle. The mortar is removed from the vehicle and assembled on the ground in the vicinity of the vehicle for fire missions. One skilled in the art will recognize that heavy mortar components will take considerable effort and time to assemble. Similar effort and time are required to disassemble and store the mortar components on a vehicle after a fire mission. This time may be critical if the crew is in hostile environment.
In order to improve transportability and operability, some designs incorporate adding a tilt bed to the vehicle on which the mortar is mounted. The components that assist in loading and unloading of the mortar on and off the tilt bed are generally human powered. A currently fielded method employs a trailer to store the mortar but uses human power to load and unload the mortar.
Alternatively, a vehicle may be provided with a support arrangement for a fully assembled mortar, which in the combat-ready position is arranged between the vehicle and the ground. The support arrangement is disposed at the tail of the vehicle and when deployed presses against the ground with a defined force so as to relieve the undercarriage of the vehicle from recoil forces generated by the firing of the artillery. This alternate design requires an increased structural complexity and limits independent use of the vehicle.
Another drawback to these common techniques is the inability to separate the mortar from the transport vehicle. When the vehicle remains connected to the mortar during fire missions the effectiveness of both components are reduced. An easily deployed mortar allows a crew to perform a fire mission while the vehicle be used for other missions. Moreover, a stand-alone mortar is easier to camouflage than a vehicle, thus making both components more survivable. The modularity adds to the crew's ability to abandon a possibly inoperative or damaged mortar in making a getaway.
In essence, the emphasis in the prior art is on the modification of a vehicle to outfit it for a specific piece of artillery. However, there is a need to equip a generic military or civilian vehicle for storing, transporting and deploying a mortar and provide other features commonly available on custom modified artillery carriers of the prior art without incurring the cost for specially designed parts and extensive customization of the vehicle and/or the mortar.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide an assembled mortar that can be transported by vehicle to a desired firing location, rapidly detached from the vehicle and rapidly reattached upon completion of the fire mission. To improve the survivability of the unit and equipment in battle, the vehicle should have all-terrain capability. The combination of the mortar and an all-terrain vehicle has the potential of providing the requisite degree of lethality and survivability if the two could be integrated without compromising the tactical advantage each component bestows on a combat unit.